Allah Hoo

Allah Hoo (Allah hu) is a traditional Sufi chant (Dhikr)consisting of the word for Allah run together three times, followed by Truth (Haqq)::"Allāhu Allāhu Allāhu Haqq",itself repeated three times over. According to Sufi tradition, this formula was introduced by Abu Bakr as he initiated the Naqshbandi tradition (Kabbani 2003 p. 89). Other Dhikrs consist of simple "Allāhu Allāhu" run together 400 or 600 times.

"Allah Hoo" is also a popular title for Urdu language Sufi devotional qawwalis.

Etymology

The "Hoo" is due to the nominative desinence (i`rab) "-u" (ḍamma) being pronounced before initial vowel, as the word "Allahu" is run together several times: "Allahu Allahu Allahu" is rendered as /al:a:hual:a:hual:a:h/ (compare the phrase "Allahu Akbar" where the "-u" is also audible). In traditional Sufi chant, the length of the "-u" is exaggerated. As a noun phrase, the chant is interpreted as meaning "God is". Haqq is the Arabic for "truth", so that the full dhikr translates to "God is. God is. God is Truth."

Qawwali

Qawwalis titled "Allah Hoo" have been performed by many different qawwals. Although these songs have the same title, many of them are totally different songs. For example, the "Allah Hoo" that appears on the Sabri Brothers 1998 CD "Qawwali: Sufi Music from Pakistan" is totally different from the song that became one of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's signature qawwalis, and this in turn is totally different from Qawwal Bahauddin's version on the 1991 Shalimar compilation video titled "Tajdar-e-Haram, vol. 2" (although all three songs do have some lyrics in common). Versions of the song have also been sung by many other qawwals and Sufi singers, including Mangal Singh, Hans Raj Hans, Master Salim, and Faiz Ali Faiz. It has also been translated into English, and sung by Sami Yusuf on the album Al-Mu`allim (2003).

ee also

*Hu (Sufism)

References

*Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, "Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition" (2003)
* Josef Kuckertz, "Was ist indische Musik?", Archiv für Musikwissenschaft (1996), p. 99.
*Charles Wolverton, " 'Ballyhoo' ", American Speech (1935), 289-291.

External links

* [http://music.yahoo.com/Nusrat-Fateh-Ali-Khan/Allah-Hoo-Allah-Hoo/lyrics/43132069 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan lyrics]
* [http://thenasheedlyrics.com/zain-bhikha/our-world/allah-hu-allah.html Sami Yusuf lyrics]